Moments in History Ii: More People and Events Worth Remembering

By Mark R. Brewer

Moments in History II is similar in format to Moments in History, but each book stands alone in that one does not have to read one in order to enjoy the other. They each contain chapters that examine a historical event and then look at the life of the individual at the center of that event. These people are sometimes famous, sometimes obscure, sometimes heroic, and sometimes scoundrels--but they are always interesting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669814290

Mark R. Brewer

MARK R. BREWER has an MA in US history from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He taught history in New Jersey for nearly a hundred years. He is really old.

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Copyright © 2022 by Mark R. Brewer.

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Rev. date: 03/15/2022

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Acknowledgements

1. The Cooper

2. The Colonist

3. The Blockmaker

4. The Traitor

5. The President I

6. The Barmaid

7. The Poet

8. The President II

9. The Feminist

10. The President-Elect

11. The Congressman

12. The Housewife

13. The Private

14. The Warrior

15. The Photographer

16. The President III

17. The Colonel

18. The Bluesman

19. The Kid

20. The Mother

21. The Activist

Notes

Bibliography

In Memory of Aaron Joshua Holzer

writer, cousin, friend

INTRODUCTION

I mentioned in the first volume of Moments in History that I could probably write a hundred volumes like this one. I was kidding, of course, but I certainly could write five, though I don’t know that I will. You will find herein twenty-one stories from history that I find of great interest, and some of them also of personal interest, to me, at least. I hope they all prove of interest to you, the reader. There are some famous people here, some obscure people, some wonderful people, and some scoundrels. But they are all fascinating in their own way. It was truly a joy to research and write about them.

All quotes contain the original spelling and punctuation.

Mark R. Brewer

Pitman, NJ

March 2022

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am always indebted to my brother Michael A. Brewer and my friend George J. Heidemark for their willingness to read my manuscript and offer comments, corrections, suggestions, and support. This book is much better because of them. I am also so thankful to my sisters, Joyce E. McCleish and Janet S. Brewer, and my cousin, Judith Pollock, for sharing memories of the events in Chapter 20. I am also grateful to my mother Phyllis Brewer and to her sister Dorothy Pollock for the very same reason. They are both gone now, but I interviewed them in 1997, and I am so glad I did. In addition, I am thankful to Sylvia Richardson for sharing the events of her life with me. As always, I am grateful for the emotional support offered in bunches by my wife, Laurie F. Brewer, and my children, Nicholas A. Brewer and Madeline K. Brewer. Their support helps keep me going. Thanks to Paul Grasso for helping with research on Daniel Sickles. Lastly, I would like to thank my friend Vanessa James for suggesting I write a sequel to Moments in History. I hope it was a good idea.

I don’t read fiction.

Michael A. Brewer

ONE

The Cooper

Spring, 1621.

Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts.

John Alden is twenty-two, Fair-haired, azure-eyed, with delicate Saxon complexion, Having the dew of his youth and the beauty thereof. Alden makes his way through the woods. He is on a mission for Miles Standish, the Captain of Plymouth. (1) Standish is thirty-seven and has military experience. It is appropriate that he has been chosen to organize the new colony’s defenses. (2)

The first winter in Plymouth had been terrible for the new settlers. They had suffered what they termed the Great Sickness. The principle problem was scurvy, a disease that strikes people who have not had enough fruits and vegetables, and it had been months since the Saints, as they called themselves, had eaten such delicacies. Many in their weakened state caught pneumonia. Even the colony’s governor, John Carver, had been laid low. William Bradford, one of their leaders, was vehemently taken with grief and pain and collapsed. The worst months were January, February and March of 1621. People died nearly every day, sometimes two or three a day. The common house in the village became as full of beds as they could lie one by another. The Mayflower itself was used as a hospital for the stricken, and the ship’s surgeon, Giles Heale, did what he could for them, which was minimal. Samuel Fuller had brought over a chest of surgeon’s instruments and was a great help and comfort to them. But Fuller would soon get sick and die. So many were taken ill that there were only a handful of healthy colonists to tend to the diseased. Nearly everyone lost a loved one. Miles Standish lost his wife. So did William Bradford. Three entire families were wiped out. Many children were left orphans. By the time the winter had passed, half of the original 102 people aboard the Mayflower were dead. (3)

But now it is spring. The sickness has passed, and hope shines once more on the debilitated colony. Miles Standish wants to remarry, and he has his eye on young Priscilla Mullins, the loveliest maiden of Plymouth, (4) a seventeen-year-old girl whose parents, William and Alice, and younger brother Joseph, had all perished in the Great Sickness. (5) Standish has sent Alden to the house where Priscilla lives to ask if she would marry him—that is, Standish. The Captain was apparently too shy to do the asking himself. So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his errand; crossing the brook at the ford. Coming to a clearing, Alden picks some flowers to give Priscilla. ’Puritan flowers,’ he said, ‘and the type of Puritan maidens, modest and simple and sweet, the very type of Priscilla.’ But the flowers would soon wilt and die. ’Soon to be thrown away as is the heart of the giver.’ For John Alden, it seems, is himself in love with Priscilla Mullins.

Soon the house where Priscilla lives comes into view, and as he draws near, Alden can hear her singing inside. He opens the door and sees Priscilla sitting at her spinning wheel, and the carded wool like a snow-drift Piled at her knee, her white hands feeding the ravenous spindle, While with her foot on the treadle she guided the wheel in its motion. Alden is so struck by her beauty that Over him rushed, like a wind that is keen and cold and relentless, Thought of what might have been, and the weight and woe of his errand.

Priscilla tells him that she longs to be among her friends. ’You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it; I almost wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and wretched.’

Alden replies, ’Indeed I do not condemn you; Stouter hearts than a woman’s have quailed in this terrible winter. Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to lean on; So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth.’

Archly the maiden smiled, and, with eyes overrunning with laughter, Said in a tremulous voice, ‘Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?’

And so true love won out. John professed his love, and the two made plans. The wedding of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins took place that autumn, after the crops were all harvested. Though Miles Standish was angry with them both for a time, he came to the wedding wearing his armor and gave the couple his blessing. So through the Plymouth woods passed onward the bridal procession. (6)

It is a famous and romantic tale from the early history of North America. And most of it is fiction—the creative invention of one of America’s most celebrated poets, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was a descendant of John and Priscilla. Longfellow’s poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish, was published in 1858. It became instantly popular—it is said that it sold 10,000 copies in London in a single day. Victorians embraced this tale of romantic love. Historian Nathaniel Philbrick says that the Civil War created a public need for a restorative myth of national origins . . . (7) Longfellow, who called his poem a kind of Puritan pastoral, (8) said it was based on family tradition. (9) There may be some truth to his claim, but Longfellow took poetic license with much of the tale—he could not know, for instance, that Alden was Fair-haired and azure-eyed or that Priscilla was The loveliest maiden of Plymouth. There is no contemporary physical description or portrait of John Alden or Priscilla Mullins in existence.

*      *      *      *

John Alden was born in 1598 or 1599 in, it is believed, the town of Harwich in Essex County, England. Harwich is an ancient town northeast of London on the North Sea. It was the home port of the Mayflower and of the ship’s captain, Christopher Jones. Historians have speculated that the Alden family may have moved to Southampton, and that John might have been the son of George Alden, who was a fletcher or arrow maker who lived in that port city on the southern coast. It was in Southampton that Alden was recruited by the Saints. William Bradford, who would be the governor of Plymouth for many years, wrote that Alden was hired for a cooper, at Southampton, where the ship victualed; and being a hopeful young man, was much desired, but left to his liking to go or stay when he came here; but he stayed, and maryed here. (10) A cooper, it should be pointed out, was a barrel-maker.

They called themselves Separatists or Saints, and those who were not of their faith, such as John Alden, were called Strangers. Though the colony of Plymouth would later be absorbed by the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, those on the Mayflower were not Puritans. Puritans wanted to reform the Church of England from the inside, to purify it. But the Separatists wanted to separate completely from a church they thought was too corrupt to be reformed. (11) William Bradford wrote that they knew they were pilgrims, hence their modern name. (12) But he meant only that they journeyed far before finding a place where they could worship as they wished. They did not call themselves Pilgrims.

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Figure 1 John and Priscilla

Alden from a postcard

In 1608, a group of the Saints had moved to Holland, a religiously tolerant country where they could enjoy freedom of religion. They settled in the town of Leiden, which was crowded with refugees from all over Europe. But the Saints were not happy there for many reasons, the chief one being that their children quickly began to adopt the habits and practices of this religious haven. In short, they were becoming Dutch. Though the Saints had rejected the English church, they remained proudly English. (13) There was also the lax lifestyle of the Dutch. William Bradford complained that the children of the Saints were being drawn away by evill example into extravagance and dangerous courses. (14) Holland had not worked out as they had hoped. They soon resolved to move to the New World, where they could live as Englishmen and women, but would also have religious freedom. (13)

Most of the Leyden congregation decided not to travel to the New World. Not only was the journey dangerous, but they had heard and read of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, where hundreds had perished the first year. But there was a group of them who believed it was their only real option, and they would not be dissuaded. It is not with us as with other men, whom small things can discourage, or small discontentments cause to wish themselves at home again, Pastor John Robinson wrote to a friend. We verily believe and trust that the Lord is with us . . . and that He will graciously prosper our endeavours.

The Saints had to apply for a land patent to be allowed to settle in the Northern Part of Virginia. This was given them on February 2, 1620. The specific location of their settlement was not spelled out, but it was understood that they would try to settle near the mouth of the Hudson River. This location would give them an excellent harbor, plenty of fishing, and it was ideal for trading with the Natives in the area. (15)

Their main problem was money. How were they to pay for the journey and all the supplies that would be required to make it? They hardly had enough money to sail back to England. The answer was supplied by one Thomas Weston, who Nathaniel Philbrick describes as a smooth-talking merchant from London. Weston was one of a group of investors known as the Merchant Adventurers. The Adventurers would put up the capital for the trip, but they expected a return on their investment in the form of codfish and furs. The Saints would be required to work four days out of every week for the Merchant Adventurers, two days a week for themselves, with Sundays reserved for church attendance. This would go on for the first seven years of the colony’s existence. At the end of that time, each of the Saints would be given a ten-pound share in the company, and they would then own their lands and houses free and clear. These were harsh terms, and many of the Saints objected to them, stating they were fitter for thieves and bondslaves than honest men. (16) But a minority of the Leiden congregation decided to take the deal. (17)

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Figure 2 Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert J. Wier. John Robinson (center,

with Bible) preaches before the departure of the Speedwell from Holland

They wanted to leave in the spring, but to their dismay, Weston had not even purchased a ship by then, never mind fitted it out. While Weston searched for a ship in London, the Saints decided to purchase a ship of their own in Holland. (18) The craft they purchased was named the Speedwell, a forty-three-year-old vessel with a square stern and a pine hull. Before the ship left Holland on July 22, 1620, a sorrowful scene took place, as some Saints would be departing and some staying in Holland. The next day they went on board, wrote Nathaniel Morton, a passenger, and their friends with them, where truly doleful was the sight of that sad and mournful parting, to hear what sighs and sobs and prayers did sound among them, what tears did gush from every eye, and pithy speeches pierced each other’s heart . . . Pastor Robinson preached from the Book of Ezekiel. Then I proclaimed a fast there . . . that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance, Robinson wrote. He then fell to his knees and all of them did likewise, and the pastor, with watery cheeks commended them with most fervent prayers to the Lord and His blessing. The ship sailed for Southampton, where it rendezvoused with the Mayflower, the ship Weston had leased. (19)

The Mayflower, 100 feet in length, was capable of carrying 180 casks or tuns of wine, making her about three times the size of the Speedwell. The master of the ship was Christopher Jones, who was also a part-owner. He had been the Mayflower’s master for eleven years.

At Southampton, many of the Saints were upset to learn that the Merchant Adventurers had recruited some forty Strangers to replace those Saints who had chosen not to make the trip. The Adventurers believed that the Saints did not have enough people to begin a colony. (20) They also hired individuals who provided necessary skills. Among those, as mentioned above, was John Alden. He would make barrels to carry their beer, their food and their water. He would go on the trip and would be responsible for checking the casks every day and to repair any leaks he found. (21)

The two ships departed Southampton on August 5, 1620, bound for Virginia in the New World. But they had hardly cleared the English Channel when the Speedwell began to leak. One passenger wrote that the ship is as open and leaky as a sieve. They put in at Dartmouth, seventy-five miles west of Southampton, and after repairing the smaller ship, set forth once again on August 24. They traveled 300 miles out into the Atlantic before the Speedwell began to leak once more. It seems the mainmast was too large for the ship, and so it carried an oversized sail. The stress this sail created caused the hull to separate and thus leak. They returned once more, this time to Plymouth, a port town in Devon in southwest England. Here, the Speedwell was declared unseaworthy and was sold. Some of the Saints, frustrated by the repeated problems, had had enough and abandoned the plan to travel to America. The rest, 102 in all, with about fifty or so being Saints, crowded themselves and all their belongings onto the Mayflower. They set sail a third time on September 6. (22)

September 6, wrote William Bradford, These troubles being blown over, and now all being compact together in one ship, they put to sea again with a prosperous wind, which continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them. Though the first two weeks under sail were pleasant enough, that soon changed. Their departure had been delayed several times, so the Saints left at the height of the stormy season. The ship tossed upon what Bradford called the vast and furious ocean. Many people grew seasick. It didn’t help that the ship quickly began to stink. No one changed their clothes during the entire journey, and the only facilities available were a bucket that would then be dumped overboard. The only way to wash up was with seawater. It was also cold, though the people of England were used to the cold in winter. It was a part of life. (23) So terrible did the lower decks begin to smell that one man, John Howland, decided to get some air on the main deck despite the raging sea. He was quickly washed overboard. Fortunately, Howland managed to grab hold of a rope that trailed behind the ship. Young and strong, Howland held on even though he was dragged underwater. Several sailors, who must have witnessed him fall, pulled him back onto the ship. Howland would survive the journey, and he and his wife would go on to have ten children. (24) One Stranger, an unnamed sailor, was not so lucky. He was swept overboard and drowned in the rough seas. William Bradford said it was the just hand of God upon him, for he had been a proud and very profane yonge man. (25)

As the ship neared the coast of the New World, Master Jones knew he was well north of his destination, but he just wanted to reach land—any land. Soon, seagulls began to appear in the sky and the color of the water changed from dark blue to light green. On the morning of Thursday, November 9, 1620, after sixty-five grueling days at sea, the passengers on the Mayflower saw land. (26)

They were, as might be expected, not a little joyful, as William Bradford put it. And the appearance of it much comforted us, especially seeing so goodly a land, and wooded to the brink of the sea. Master Jones realized he had reached Cape Cod. (27) Jones turned the ship north and made for the harbor on the bay side of the cape. Reaching this point, the Mayflower dropped anchor about 200 yards from the shore. A longboat was lowered and a party of fifteen armed men rowed toward land. It was November 11 when they came ashore at the southern end of what is today Provincetown. Bradford said that the party fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. It is possible that John Alden, being young and strong, was with the party that explored what was a desolate and dreary-looking land.

Back on the ship, they discussed what to do next. Some said that they should sail south to their original goal, the mouth of the Hudson River, but Master Jones quickly quashed this idea, telling them it was too late in the season to sail so great a distance. They needed to promptly decide where to place their colony, for the ship’s stores were running low, and Jones needed to save enough to make the trip back to England.

When the passengers learned that they were going to land in New England, it caused a good deal of consternation. They knew their land patent did not apply so far north. Some of the passengers were heard giving discontented and mutinous speeches, stating that when they came ashore they would use their own liberty, for none had power to command them. But the Saints and several strangers, among them Priscilla’s father William Mullin, knew that the only way the colony would survive would be if they all worked together. And so, they cobbled together a document that the men who planned to remain in New England were asked to sign. (28) This Mayflower Compact, as it came to be known, is considered a first step in self-government in America, and a direct ancestor of the US Constitution. The entire document reads as follows:

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc. Having undertaken for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together in a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices from time to time, as shall be thought be most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

And that’s it. The whole thing. Those Saints and Strangers certainly knew how to cut to the chase. John Alden and William Mullins were among the forty-one men who signed the Compact. (29)

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Figure 3 Signing the Mayflower Compact

1620 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

During the ensuing days, a party of the men further explored the cape while the women washed clothes in a brackish pond they had found. On November 15, while walking along the beach, the men saw five Natives, who quickly disappeared into the woods. The men followed after them, and soon came to a clearing containing the stubble of a cornfield. Further on, they found a spot where the sand of the beach had recently been smoothed over. They dug down in the sand and discovered a store of corn in baskets, which they took, telling themselves they would pay the Natives later. (30)

On Wednesday, December 6, the men again set out to explore. It was so cold that as they rowed for land, the salt spray froze on their clothes as if they had been glazed, wrote Bradford. Six inches of snow had fallen. Rowing toward shore, they again saw Natives who quickly scattered. The Saints reached land and moved along the beach, seeing graves and abandoned dwellings, made with long young sapling trees, bended and both ends stuck in the ground and covered down to the ground with thick and well wrought mats . . . These huts had a door covered with a mat and a hole in the roof that served as a chimney. There were also clay pots, wooden bowls, and baskets, as well as several deer heads strewn about. The Saints camped on the beach that night behind a makeshift barricade of driftwood and sticks.

Early the next morning, they awoke, said a prayer, and began to prepare breakfast. Suddenly from the woods, one of their men came running toward the camp screaming Indians! Indians! And then the air was rent with arrows. The men began firing their muskets, a lengthy process as it required them to light long wicks that burned down to ignite the weapon’s priming powder. Miles Standish ordered them not to shoot, till we could take aim. He did not know how many Natives there were and so wanted his men to preserve their bullets. The Indians shrieked their intimidating war cries, which were later transcribed. Woath! Woach! Ha! Ha! Hach! Woach! Their feathered arrows were more than a yard long and an adept warrior could have as many as five of them in the air at once. The Saints hid behind their barricade and fired back. One of the Natives, a lusty man and no whit less valiant, who was thought to be their captain, stood behind a tree and fired arrow after arrow at them. Several of the Saints fired back at him but they missed. At length, the man gave an extraordinary shriek and retreated into the woods, the other Natives following. Standish and a few others pursued briefly but soon gave up the chase. Not one of the Saints had suffered a wound. Thus it pleased God to vanquish our enemies and give us deliverance, wrote Bradford. Apparently, none of the Natives were injured either. The site of this skirmish is still known as First Encounter Beach. (31)

Continuing their explorations, the Saints began looking for a spot to build a settlement. On December 11, they went ashore near where Plymouth would actually be built. It may have been near where Plymouth Rock is today, but there is no record that they actually stepped on the rock to reach dry land. They moved along the shoreline and found divers corn fields and running brooks, a place very good for situation. The men went back to the Mayflower and reported that they had found a good location to build a settlement.

On Saturday, December 16, the Mayflower weighed anchor by the coast of Cape Cod. By evening the ship anchored in what became Plymouth Harbor. December 17 was a Sunday, and the Saints believed in keeping the Sabbath Day holy, so they remained on the ship where William Brewster conducted a religious service. The next day, the first people rowed ashore to examine the site where their settlement would be made.

Plymouth Rock would be used as a place to make a landing in their longboat, as it allowed them to reach land without getting their feet wet. That was important in the cold New England winter. (32) It has been said that John Alden was the first to set foot on the rock, but there is no evidence to support this claim. (33)

Next to Plymouth Rock, a very sweet brook flowed that would allow small vessels to sail up some distance. Next to the brook was a salt marsh where, said Bradford, we may harbor our shallops and boats exceedingly well. Beyond was a 165-foot hill, which is where Plymouth Plantation would eventually be built. A fort would also be placed here, equipped with several cannon, giving the Saints some security from the Natives. They named it Cole’s Hill, and it is here they began to build. It took them two weeks to construct what they called the common house, a twenty-foot-square building made of tree trunks sealed together with clay. The tiny windows were made of linseed-coated parchment. Though they allowed for some light, one could hardly see through them. They decided to place all single men with a family and so determined that nineteen houses would need to be built. But because of the Great Sickness, only seven homes would be constructed that first winter. The houses were built along a street that ran from the fort down the hill to the sea. (34) They called this Leyden Street. The houses were made of sawed wood, not logs. They each had one room, a large fireplace, and a loft where the children could sleep. The chimneys, at least at first, were made of wood coated with clay. Contrary to popular belief, the Saints wore colorful clothes. Those few who could afford black clothing only wore it on Sundays. The hat with a buckle is also a myth.

Frank Billington, who was a youth, climbed a tall tree one day during the winter. He saw what he called a great sea, and ran back to the village to tell everyone he had discovered the Pacific Ocean. The large pond he saw still bears the name Billington’s Sea. The colonists, it seemed, had a sense of humor.

The weather warmed in early March, bringing an end to the Great Sickness. Within days, the residents of Plymouth began planting seed. On March 16, a tall Native, stark naked, only a leather about his waist, walked into Plymouth, scaring the children half to death. Welcome, Englishmen! he called out to the first men he saw. His name was Samoset, a Native from what is now Maine. He informed the Saints of the Native tribes nearby. Six days later, he returned with Squanto. This man would help the Saints in countless ways. Bradford called him a special instrument of God for their good. Squanto taught the Saints how to fish, how to stomp eels out of the mud, where to find eatable herbs in the woods, how to plant corn, and how to use fish as fertilizer. He would spend the rest of his life in Plymouth. (35)

The same day that Squanto arrived, the Saints were informed that the local sachem or chief, Massasoit, was nearby. Edward Winslow was sent to meet him. The chief was described as being strong, in his best years, and able body, grave of countenance, and spare of speech. His face was painted dark red and his hair was slathered with bear grease. He wore a shell necklace and carried a long knife. There were sixty warriors with the chief. Winslow gave Massasoit several gifts, among them knives, copper chains, and some alcohol. Though the Saints could only muster about twenty men capable of fighting, Massasoit was eager to make a treaty with them. It seems that Squanto had told the Natives that the white men kept the plague buried in barrels. The mutually beneficial treaty that was worked out that March day would last for decades.

On April 5, 1621, the Mayflower set sail to return to England. Master Jones had not left earlier because so many of his crew were sick. As it was, nearly twenty of his crew had died that first winter. That same month, while working out in the fields, the governor of the colony, returned to his home. He complained of a pain in his head and lay down. He soon lapsed into a coma and died. In June, William Bradford was appointed to fill Carter’s place. (36)

Summer came. Some of the crops they planted, such as wheat and peas did not do well, but corn, beans and pumpkins thrived. In the autumn, the crops were harvested. The Saints and Strangers were all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in plenty. (37) The Saints were so pleased with the bounty of their harvest that they fired off cannon and muskets in celebration. Massasoit and about ninety members of the Wampanoag tribe heard the commotion and went to investigate. The whites invited them to join in a harvest celebration, a feast of thanksgiving for their survival and for the healthy harvest. (38) The Wampanoag brought five deer to the feast, which were barbecued over an open fire. The Saints supplied other game as well as corn bread, and biscuit and butter left over from the Mayflower. A large table was created by laying planks across sawhorses. Stools provided a place to sit, but the Natives preferred sitting on the ground. The feast went on for three days. (39)

And so, the colony thrived.

Exactly when the marriage of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins took place is not known, but one thing is certain—it was not in 1621 as Longfellow’s poem states. Most likely, it occurred in 1622 or 1623. The Aldens would remain in Plymouth until 1631, when they joined with several others in founding the nearby settlement of Duxbury. They would eventually have ten children—an eleventh child died while an infant. Alden built a house in Duxbury (circa 1651) that still stands and is now a museum. Though a farmer, John Alden somehow found time to serve in a number of civic offices. He served as assistant to the governor of Massachusetts Bay (1623-41 and 1650-86). During that time, he served twice as deputy governor. He also held several other positions—agent for the colony, treasurer of the colony, surveyor of highways, and member of the local council of war. (40) We know nothing of Priscilla during these years, except that she was almost constantly pregnant for the first twenty years of their marriage.

The Saints established a trading post on the Kennebec River near what is now Augusta, Maine. Through trade with the peaceful Abinaki tribe, the post made large profits for the colony, allowing them to send shipments of furs to the Merchant Adventurers in England to pay off their debt. In the early spring of 1634, John Alden sailed from Plymouth to the the trading post with supplies.

A group of English settlers on the Piscataqua River had heard of the success of the trading post and wanted to horn in. They sent one John Hocking to the post to claim a share in it. Alden arrived just in time to witness what happened as a result. John Howland, who ran the post for the Saints, immediately ordered to Hocking to leave. Hocking, with ill words refused to do so. The men argued, and then Howland ordered his men to cut the ropes securing Hocking’s boat. In response, Hocking raised his gun. Shoot me, not them! Howland shouted. They are only obeying my orders! Hocking fired, hitting one of the men, Moses Talbot, while he was cutting the ropes. Talbot fell dead. Then, in William Bradford’s words, one of [Talbot’s] fellows that loved him well, shot at Hocking, striking him in the head and killing him instantly. News of the exchange caused great excitement throughout Massachusetts Bay.

Eventually, John Alden returned to Plymouth and to his home in Duxbury. Shortly afterward, he was in Boston on business when the local authorities seized him and tossed him in jail. Captain Standish hurried to Boston to try and secure Alden’s release, but the Boston magistrates decided they wanted to hear the whole case. Edward Winslow and William Bradford testified on Alden’s behalf, Bradford stating that Alden was no actore in ye business. It was quickly decided that Hocking’s killing had been in self-defense, and Alden was released. (41)

In his later years, John Alden served on many juries, including one trial for witchcraft. They found the defendant not guilty, and he was allowed to go free. (42)

It is not known exactly when Priscilla Mullins died. Some sources put it at about 1680. John Alden died at his Duxbury home on September 12, 1687 at age 89. He had been the last living signer of the Mayflower Compact. An obituary from the time states he was an Aged, Pious, Sincere-hearted CHRISTIAN, adding that "His walk was holy, humble, and sincere." (43)

John and Priscilla have hundreds of thousands of descendants in the US today. Among the more famous are John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Orson Welles, Dan Quayle, Raquel Welch, Samuel Eliot Morison, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Martha Graham, Adlai Stevenson, Dick Van Dyke, Julia Child, William Cullen Bryant, and Marilyn Monroe. (44) This writer is also one of them. Through their daughter Rebecca, their second youngest child, John and Priscilla Alden are my Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandparents.

TWO

The Colonist

Friday, August 2, 1675

Near Quaboag, Massachusetts

Morning

It is a hot and humid summer morning. Captains Edward Hutchinson and Thomas Wheeler, with their party of about twenty men, are riding on horseback, into Nipmuc country following the path of the man they call King Phillip. To his own people, Phillip is known as Metacom. (1) He is the son of Massasoit, the grand sachem of the Wampanoag confederacy of Native American tribes, who, honest and loyal, had worked out a treaty with the Pilgrims of Plymouth back in 1621. But Massasoit had died in 1661. His eldest son had succeeded him, but he had died after but a year. And so Metacom is now the grand sachem. The peace between the English colonists and the Native population had died when Massasoit did. The two groups are now engaged in what the English colonists call King Phillip’s War. (2)

The party that the two captains lead is armed. They are also nervous. They know the enemy could be anywhere, behind any bush or lying in the tall grass. Mosquitoes nip at their sweaty hands, faces, and necks. Hutchinson (the son of Anne Hutchinson, who had been banished from Massachusetts Bay for daring to preach) (3) is sixty-two years of age and heads the expedition. Wheeler, age fifty-five, is his second in command. (4) Among their party is a thirty-three-year-old farmer from Sudbury, Massachusetts by the name of Shadrach Habgood. Shadrach was in the process of improving fifty acres of land near Stow so that he might eventually move his family there from Sudbury, but the Indian war came on, and he was summoned to the field. (5)

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Figure 1 Metacom, grand sachem of the Wampanoag confederacy

in a drawing by Paul Revere from 1772

The party was initially supposed to meet the Nipmuck Indians to parley, but the Nipmuck, who were, in Captain Wheeler’s words, treacherous heathen intending mischief, never showed. (6) The colonial council of Massachusetts Bay had given Hutchinson and Wheeler orders that might also be perceived as intending mischief. They were told that if any of the natives stand in opposition to you, then you are ordered to engage with them . . . . . . and endeavor to reduce them by force of Arms. (7)

Hutchinson and Wheeler discuss what they should do next, whether, in Wheeler’s account of the incident, we should go any further towards them or return, divers of us apprehending much danger in case we did proceed, because the Indians kept not promise there with us. But three men from Brookfield believe the Nipmuck have no ill intentions toward us, and according to Wheeler, they convince Captain Hutchinson to proceed and march forward towards a Swamp where the Indians then were. (8)

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Figure 2 The actual site of the

ambush is still debated

And so, they move on. As the company nears the swamp, the path becomes poor, with the swamp on the left and a steep hill on the right. The mounted party are thus forced to move on in single file. They continue in this manner for 300 to 400 yards. Suddenly shots are heard and arrows pierce the air. They have been ambushed! Some 200 of, in Wheeler’s words, those cruel blood-thirsty heathen are hiding in the tall grass and have now unleashed a deadly volley of projectiles. Several men are hit in this initial fire. The others turn to go back the way they came, only to find the Nipmuck have closed off that route of escape. Some men turn to go up the steep rocky hill, and in this way, they make their escape. Both Captain Hutchinson and Captain Wheeler are wounded—Wheeler’s horse being shot from under him—but they get away. Wheeler’s son is also wounded but follows his father to safety. Eight men of their party are killed outright in what will become known as the Quaboag Ambush or Wheeler’s Surprise, including the three men from Brookfield. (9) Also among the dead is Shadrach Habgood. (10)

*      *      *      *      *      *

Little is known of Shadrach Habgood’s life. He was closely related to two men who had come to Massachusetts Bay from Southhampton, England, years before he did. But Shadrach appears to have been born in Andover, England in about 1642. Shadrach Hopgood aged fourteen years embarked at Gravesend May 30, 1656, in the Speedwell, Robert Lock, Master, bound for New England. His cousin Thomas Haynes had been sent to bring him. Haynes sailed back to England in order to bring young Shadrach to America. Author and descendant Warren Hapgood said that Shadrach no doubt completed his minority with his distinguished uncle, Peter Noyes. Noyes was one of the earliest planters of Sudbury, Massachusetts, and by the time of Shadrach’s arrival, he was a man of wealth and standing in the area. Considered one of the founders of Sudbury, there is still a public school named for him in the town. Perhaps either Noyes or Haynes or both had written to Shadrach, telling him of the great opportunities in the colony.

Shadrach does not enter the records again until October 21, 1664, when he married Elizabeth Treadway at Sudbury. She had been born on April 3, 1646. Elizabeth’s mother’s maiden name was Howe, and she claimed to be descended from Lord Howe, an English peer. Howe was an ancestor of Admiral Richard Howe and General Sir William Howe, who would both command English troops in the American Revolution. (10)

According to the law of Puritan Massachusetts, no man could marry unless he has obtained liberty and allowance from her parents. Notice that both father and mother must approve. A humble dowry may have been discussed, but the marriage was completely voluntary and based upon love. If an agreement was reached, there would have been a public announcement. The marriage itself would have followed soon after. Neither engagement or wedding rings were used, both seen as a Catholic practice and so avoided by the Puritans. Nor would a minister preside over the ceremony for the same reason. Though the local minister may have been invited, a local magistrate would conduct the marriage. No gifts were given to the bride, and the marriage would be announced in church the Sunday after. The couple would attend church that week in their finest clothes, though in the case of Shadrach and Elizabeth, these may have merely been their regular church clothes. (11)

On June 26, 1666, Shadrach testified in what was called the Court of Assistants. He did so to help establish the original boundaries of his cousin’s land. Apparently, there was a dispute with a neighbor. Sidrache Habgood, say the court records, witnesseth & saith that he has lived with his cousin Peter Noyes, the son of his uncle of the same name, for this seven years past and I then knew the bounds of my cousin’s land. Shadrach went on to spell out places that marked the border, such as the stake in the meadow by the River side. His testimony was sworn Before mee Tho: Danforth, Assist.

Warren Hapgood stated that Shadrach Habgood was a young man of enterprise . . .. The General Court of Massachusetts was awarding fifty-acre tracts of land in order